New HTC users to get 5GB free Dropbox service

Microsoft has Skydrive, Apple has iCloud, and now HTC has Dropbox following a new partnership between the phone maker and popular cloud storage service.

HTC has confirmed to Pocket-lint that users of its latest Android handsets, like the HTC Rhyme, will get a bonus 3GB of storage in addition to the 2GB of free storage offered by Dropbox if they connect to the platform with the new phone - launching in October.

The deal, which will extend to all Sense 3.5 devices in the future, will mean that users will be able to save files and photos on their phone and have them automatically synced to their computer at home or other devices running the Dropbox software.

Dropbox currently offers users 2GB of storage for free, with the chance to upgrade that by a further 8GB by convincing friends to sign up to the service. HTC’s additional 3GB makes reaching the 10GB free storage maximum all the more easy.

When asked whether HTC would be looking to bring the offer to its Windows Phone 7 smartphones, the company wasn’t so sure. Our HTC man suggested WP7 already has a very compelling offer from Skydrive powered by Microsoft baked into the OS.

Skydrive offers a far greater 25GB of free storage to lure people to the service.

Currently HTC’s Android interface Sense 3.5 is only on the HTC Rhyme however, with more phone announcements expected in the coming weeks from the company, we don’t expect that to be the case for long.

HTC hasn’t said whether older Sense users would be getting an update to 3.5 or the Dropbox features.

Stuart has been a tech journalist since 1998 and written for a number of publications around the world. Regularly turning up on television, radio and in newspapers, Stuart has played with virtually every gadget available.